Backgammon

Backgammon

You play blue, moving anti-clockwise towards your home board at the bottom right. Choose how strong the computer should be.

Next Game Change Difficulty

How To Play Backgammon

You (blue) and the computer (red) race 15 checkers around the board in opposite directions. Your checkers move anti-clockwise towards your home board (bottom right). Bear all 15 off first and you win the game.

Moving

Roll two dice and move one checker per die (or one checker twice). A double lets you move four times. You may land on any point that isn't held by two or more enemy checkers. Tap a checker to select it, then tap a highlighted point. You must use both dice if possible — the game only offers moves that let you play the maximum.

Hitting and the bar

A lone checker (a blot) is hit if an enemy checker lands on it, and is sent to the bar in the middle. You must re-enter checkers from the bar into the opponent's home board before making any other move — if their board is blocked, you lose your turn.

Bearing off

Once all your checkers are in your home board, dice bear them off (tap the tray on the right). A die higher than your furthest point may bear off from that furthest point.

Scoring

Each game is worth 1 point — or 2 for a gammon (loser has borne off nothing) and 3 for a backgammon (loser also has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board). Match points build up across games.

Back to Game